Crankshaft



Aug. 3, 1943.

M. G. 'SHOEMAKER CRANKS HAFT Filed Aug. 17, 1940 WWW Patented Aug. 3, 1943 by re sne as i l d eh en Pei Application Aug-mm, 194a; release-e This invention relates t o new1 and useful* in-- provements in- 'crankshait's andthe construction corggora tie n:

and arrangement thereof; as wellas-themethod of "assemblingwhereon a" connecting 'rodfan'd counterweight member;

V More particularly-"theinvention relates to-a crankshaft; connecting rod and counterweight assembly; wherein the eccentTic bearing portion" of the crankshaft is recessed'witii respectto the surface ofsaid crankshaft. Specifically, thi in- Vention is concerned with the crankshaft con-- necting rod and-counterweight assembly for motor compressor units of 'domesti'c refrigerators:

In the construction and arrangement of s crankshaft; it is desirable in 'many instances, to recess the connectingrodeccentric bearing sur face i 'w'ith-mespect to the surface of said crank: shaft. This; is so-because-it'permits of aminimum bea-ring" surface area with consequent low" friction-*- lesses, and also, because-it is then" possible to change the length of the throwafforded by merely'varying th extent of theoffsetofsuch eccentric bearing-portion instead of'qvarying the diameter of such portion and" hence its'bcaring surface area. Too, suchanarrangement,- there is. considerably lessweight: requiredtobe counter-balanced;

' On th other hand; the one real disadvantage" of'crankshafts having recessed connectin rod eccentric bearing surfaces isthatit has been necessary, heretofore, to -const1"-uct the connectingrod -bearingg intwopieces'inorder to; be ableto mount the connecting rcdon thereces'sedeccentric portion-cf the crankshaft, and this required useof a' split or two-piececonnectingrod c,-

hearing has 7 necessarily maintained the: cost thereof at a relatively high; level. the'disadvantage of having periodically to tighten press'o'r unitsf'o'r domestic refrigerators. J

' A further object of the intentionis to provide" j a crankshaft and connecting-rod -assembiy wl'iich- 'ias-"sulostantiallys less. expensive than heretofore v and which does notrequire-any further attention and. 'djustment 'fafter: it is ihstalled ahd op crating:

7 These and other objects of 'the' invention v the variousfeatures anti details" of the corn struction and-assembly" thereofare hereinafter fully s'et forth and shown in" the accompanying drawingi 'hich2;-'

Figure 1' a side elevation friger-atoi motor compressor unit; a portion there- V lusti ate one embodiment of the-present inventionvand s 'Fi'giirefiis-a partial-section axially through; the

operatiyel-y assembled -thereing r V Figure 2 is a viewyin pei specti-ve cfa era-rile shaft madeaccording tothe present invention;-

7 it shown: in Figure- 2; illustratingthe int-wheel.

(z i mounting thereon--a connecting rod having aone piece bearing: i

Forp cposes' of illustration, the-"invention is described in connectionwith the mot-or com-- Also, thereis a such bearings because of theintendency-tobe- 7 pressorun-i-tof a d0mesti0- refrigerator 'and i e-f s ferring now to the drawing, referencenumeral l .1 designates-z an hei'me'tica1l'-yseale'd metal shell supporting thereina frame structure-'2 comprising a-compressor cylinder s f'or-a 'pi'ston c ane e bearing 5. for a crankshaft The crankshaft it is driven froman electric m'otoi (notw-isibie) suitably mounted within-solidi shell -I- above the frame 2 and in turn; reciprocates the "piston 4 through a connecting rod 11- :The lower end-of the'crankshaftfi isjournal led in a bearin-g ficla tachab-lyconnected to th frame structure 2 I by meansof screws-oi" thelike. K i h any. such-mechanism wherein the crankshaft is provided with arecessed eccentric-rbearing sur face portion to recei /e the connectingrod-bearing': it has been impossible;heretofore; t e-employ a one-piececonnectingrod bearing; sincetheoff;

set' ot the eccentric bearing portion and tkiECGH- struction ofthe suchthat it is not possible- 150 slide a one-piece bearing axially; along tlie 'sh-aft and onto said offset eccentricportion; This is-so-forthegreason that thereis no provision total-lowingthe con- 'necting rod bear'ing likewise no-be ofisetand aligned with theoft-set eccentriebearing surface of the crankshaft thereby I to enable-the; con-- necting rod. bearin tosbe slid onto the: saidi? ecs com l of a dcmesticm e, a

crankshaft adjacent thereto are The foregoing notwithstanding, I have devised a crankshaft which is constructed and arranged to permit of the mounting of a one-piece connecting rod bearing on the offset eccentric bearing surface portion, and referring particularly to Figures 2 and 3 of the accompanying drawing a crankshaft made in accordancewith my invention comprises axially aligned main shaft portions l and II, the common axes of which'are coincident with the fixed axis of rotation of the Intermediate-these main i of "the crankshaft there crankshaft as a whole. shaft portions It and l is formed the usual eccentric bearing surface portion l2 for receiving the connecting rod bearing and, as shown, this eccentric portion I2 is recesses inwardly with respect to the surface of the adjacent main shaft portion H) as indicated at l3 in order'toimpart the necessarythrow to the connecting rodlwith the desired small diameter connecting j rod bearing- In this arrangement-the radius of the eccentric bearing surface less than thesumcf the may be, and, in fact; is throw plus the radius of the main shaft portion of the connectingrod I and the use of a minimum bearing surface area with low friction lossesis thereby permitted. V I

Adjacent the eccentric' l2 and between it and the shaft portion 1!, thereis provided a'shaft portion I l and as shown, this portion l4 likewise is offset or recessed with respect to the main shaft portions It) and H. It is essential that the extent of recessor offset of this portion M be at least as great as that of the eccentric bearing portion 12, and the portion l4 preferably is recessed a distance slightly greater than said eccentric portion l2 as indicated at E5. In every event, however, the recessed offset of the portions I2 and I4 is in th same direction laterally of the axis of the crankshaft. Preferably, the portion l4 likewise is of eccentric form and projects beyond the main shaft portion ii opposite the offset thereof in order to impart sufficient strength to the crankshaft against breaking due to torsional stresses and at the same time provide a suitable portion for the mounting thereon of a counter weight. 7

By providing this recessed shaft portion M intermediate the main shaft portion H and the eccentric bearing portion l2, it will be seen that sufficient clearance is thereby afforded to enable theone-piece bearing I6 of the connecting rod 1 to be passed over the shaft portion ll as shown in solid lines in Figure 3 and then dropped into the recess ll afforded by the portion 54 so that said connecting rod bearing 18 is disposed in axial alignment Withthe said eccentric bearing l2 as shown in dotted lines in said figure, With the connecting rod bearing i thus aligned with the eccentric bearing surface l2, the said bearing it may then be passed readily over onto the eccentric bearing portion l2 as shown in dot and dash lines in said Figure 3. After theconnecting rod bearing it has thus been positioned. upon the eccentric l2 2. counterweight l8 of suitable size and shapemaythen be positioned upon the recessed eccentric, portion i l and secured thereon in predetermined circumferential relation by means of a set screw or the like. 7

Assembly of the connecting rod, counter-weight upon the crankshaft of the present invention within the space limitations of the motor-compressor unit of a domestic refrigerator may be accomplished readily and easily by first inserting into the cylinder 3 the piston 4 with its connecting rod 1 thereto attached. When this has been done, the counter-weight I8 may be held by the fingers of the left hand in a position intermediate the connecting rod bearing l6 andthe bearing} of the frame 2, and the crankshaft then may bepassed'upWardIy through the connecting rodbearing IS, the counter-weight I8 and'the frame bearing 5, it being necessary, during such upward passage of the crankshaft, that the same be rotated back and forth in order that the connecting rod bearing IE will pass over the shaft and its relatively recessed portion l4 onto the eccentri-cf bearing surface portion I2 thereof. "When this has been done the shaft may b held in position by securing in place the bottom bearing plate 3.

Thus it will be seen that the present invention permits of the use of a crankshaft having a recessed connecting rod bearing surface l2 with all of the; previously mentioned advantages of that constructionQand at the same time permits of the use in conjunction withsuch crankshaft of a connecting rod havinga one-piece bearing thereby substantially reducing the cost of the connecting rod bearings below that of the split or two-piece. type and eliminating, entirely the necessity of having periodically to tighten any connecting rod bearing parts as in th case of bearings of the said split or two-piece type.

The inventionof course, maybe embodied to advantage in the crankshaft assemblies of mech anism other than the motor-compressor units for domestic refrigerators, and while a particular embodiment of said invention has been illustrated and described herein, it is not intended that the invention be limited to that disclosure but that changes and modifications may be made and incorporated therein within the scope of the annexed claims. i

I claim: v a

l A crankshaft comprising atleast two spaced axiallyv aligned shaft portions of predetermined diameter, an eccentric crank portion of a diameter at least as great assaid main'shaft, portions disposed-intermediate said'main' shaft portions and providing a connecting rod bearing surface, said crank portion being recessed and offset with respect to thesurface of said axially aligned main shaft portions, and a second recessed portion having an axial length at least :as great as the axial length of the bearing surface of, said crank portion interposed between the latter and one of said main shaft portions, said second recessed portion being recessed with respect to the surface of the main shaft portions in the direction of offset and adistanceat least as great as the said crank, portion, and the extreme projection of saidsecond recessed portion in the direction of offset of the crankportion terminating inwardly ofthe extreme projectionof said crank portion ,a distance at least as great'as the distance that the crank portion is recessed with respect to the surface of said main shaft portions.

2. In a' motor compressor mechanism for domestic refrigerators comprising a frame. providingsa bearing and a. compression cylinder in which a piston is reciprocated by a connecting rod having a one-piece bearing, acrankshaft for actuating said connecting rod journalled in saidframe bearing and comprising spaced axially alignedmain shaft portions of predetermined diameter; an eccentric crankportion of a diameter at least as great as said main shaft portions disposed intermediate said main shaft portions and providing a connecting rod bearing surface, said crank portion being recessed and ofiset with respect to the surface of said axially aligned main shaft portions, anda second recessed portion having an axial length at least as great as the axial length of the bearing surface of said crank portion interposed between the latter and one of said main shaft portions, said second recessed portion being recessed with respect to the surface of the main shaft'portions in the direction of offset and a distance at least as great as the said crank portion, and the extreme projection of said second recessed portion in the direction of oifset of said crank portion terminating inwardly of the extreme projection I a counterweight element removablyfl mounted thereon.

4. A device as claimed in claim 2 wherein the 7 second recessed portion of the crankshaft provides a counterweight mountingportion and has a counterweight' eleme t 'removably mounted thereon.

MALCOLM G. SHOEMAKE'R.

to the surface-of said main Disclaimer 2,325,804.-Malcolm G. Shoemaker, Abington, Pa. CRANKSHAFT. Patent dated Aug. 3, 1943. Disclaimer filed June 12, 1948, by the assignee, Pkz'lco Corporation.

Hereby enters this disclaimer to claim [Oflicial Gazette August 17, 1948.]

s 1 to 4 inclusive of said patent. 

